The Adventure of the Toad Sage and Rock Lee
by AssasinNinja
Summary: Follow Naruto and Rock Lee as they become teammates, solving problems, and chasing after the women they love. Loads of kinetic nunchaku and kama fighting action, and ninja battles that explode off the page! NarutoxSakura and LeexTenten. Warning: Slow updates


**This story probably won't be updated very often. Enjoy.**

Naruto had been more than happy to carry Sasuke 50 miles back to the village. He was happy to have the gates opened, see all his friends with joyful eyes and smiling face, and have none of them offer to take the boy from his back. Hell, he was even happy to drop Sasuke on an empty bed in the hospital, and be kicked out of the room as they operated on them.**  
**

But he wasn't happy at all when Sasuke had woken, asked to be alone with Sakura, and locked Naruto out of his room for hours. Naruto had waited patiently for the first few minutes, but after a half hour of standing in the hallway outside of Sasuke's room, getting suspicious stares from all the nurses who walked by, he decided to take care of some unfinished business.

He walked briskly to Tsunade's office, thinking about all his recent accomplishments as he did. He had personally ended the Fourth Shinobi war a few months ago, and after Sasuke had helped Naruto defeat Tobi, the boy had secured a pardon for the Uchiha with all of the five shinobi nations. However immediately after the fight, Sasuke ran off, and Naruto had been trailing him ever since. Sasuke had retained some injuries during the fight, and Naruto was able to track him down by questioning doctors. Sasuke hadn't stayed in one place for very long, but at almost every village he went through he had visited a doctor of some sort.

He had of course avoided all the major villages, being completely oblivious of Naruto securing a pardon for him, and none of the doctors he had called on possessed anywhere near the amount of skill as a medical shinobi, so his wounds remained unhealed. When Naruto found him, he was limping badly, and when Naruto had startled him, his attempt to run away made the wound even worse. He fell to the ground, unable to walk at all. So, Naruto had carried him all the way back to the village. His back only hurt a little.

He soon found himself face to face with Tsunade, the current Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves.

"How can I help you Naruto?" Tsunade asked, smiling, "Besides congratulate you of course... even though I think bringing back Sasuke was a waste of your valuable time."

"Well, now that this was is over and I have some free time on my hands, I wanted to know some more about my family."

"Oh, well in that case..." Tsunade walked over to a large bookcase, on each shelf of the case, there were many scrolls and boxes. These shelves held information regarding all of the current clans in Konoha, so the Hokage could keep track of all their estates and members. Tsunade reached all the way up to the top shelf, where a large sealed box sat. Pulling the box down, she walked across the room, and handed it to Naruto.

"In here you will find the history of your clan, the deeds to all your of your clan's property, and..." Tsunade opened the drawer under her desk and pulled out a pair of large golden keys. She dropped them on top of the box.

"What are these to?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tsunade only smirked.

* * *

"WOW!"

Tsunade had led Naruto a few miles away from the village and into a dark forest. In the middle of the forest, a large wooden gate stood. Sure enough, the key had opened the gate quite easily, revealing a huge estate with several houses, courtyards, and training grounds.

"This is incredible! And it's all mine?!"

"Yep, and until you start a family you'll be the only one living here... if you choose to move in that is."

Naruto summoned ten shadow clones, and they ran in the direction of his apartment. With any luck, they would have all his property here by the end of the day. Tsunade eyed him skeptically, but she knew the boy wouldn't mistreat his new home, she could see it in his smile.

"Naruto, there's another thing I need to speak to you about." Tsunade said, clearing her throat.

"Yes?"

"Being the new toad sage, I assume you will be resuming operation of Jiraiya's network of spies, correct?"

"You mean... leave the village?" Naruto asked, suddenly dismayed.

"Yes Naruto, only for a few months at a time. I haven't made you do this yet because of the war, but now that we're officially in peace time, and Konoha is still recovering from the war, we need all our old contacts re-established."

"I... I see."

"You may take one person with you, if you desire."

Naruto thought long and hard about who he wanted to accompany him. There was Kiba, he had a huge dog and fought in a rough and scrappy way like Naruto, but they would probably start fighting after being together too long. Neji was insanely talented, and a genius... but he was also captain of the Anbu, and a bit on the weird side. Shikamaru was too lazy, and Choji would eat all his food! There was only one clear choice for his new companion.

"Okay, I want Rock Lee to go with me."

Tsunade felt her left eye twitch.

"Um... are you sure about that Naruto?" She knew all too well how excitable Lee could be. To top it all off, he also seemed to be madly in love with Sakura, if that wouldn't cause complications between the two, she didn't know what else would.

"Of course! Not only is Lee a loyal friend, but his complete lack of chakra will serve as a nice compliment to my excess of chakra."

"Alright, if you say so."

Naruto nodded and summoned a small toad.

"I need you to return to the village and bring Rock Lee here, can you do that?"

"Sure thing Naruto!" The little toad hopped away in the direction of the village.

"While we wait, why don't we explore your new home?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

Rock Lee was a very happy young man. It was a crisp breezy day, just perfect for training. He was in the forest with his two best friends, sparring and chatting the day away. And to top it all off, it was November 27th.

His birthday.

"Okay Lee, let's take a break for a minute!" Tenten said smiling.

"What for?" Lee asked, stopping a kick in mid-arc. Tenten held her finger up, telling Lee to wait just a minute. She walked several paces away from where Neji and Lee were sparring. Reaching her hands into a large hollow tree trunk, she pulled out a green box with a purple ribbon.

"Happy Birthday Lee!" She yelled, thrusting the box in his face. Lee stared at the box for a moment, then took it.

"You shouldn't have Tenten!" He said, ripping the off and opening the box. He peered inside for a second, and then withdrew the box's contents. His present was a bright orange wooden Nunchaku. It matched his leg warmers almost perfectly, apart from an inscription that ran down every section of the octagonal handles. It was connected by a short black string.

He was rendered speechless, and Tenten mistook this for disappointment. Her smile slowly faded into a frown.

But then Lee screamed.

"Tenten! These are incredible!" He swirled the nunchaku around his body at lightspeed, then held them out in front of him, "This is the greatest birthday present anyone has given me."

Tenten's smile returned.

"Here you go Lee." Neji handed Lee a gourd of some strange liquid.

"Thank you Neji... your present is great as well... what is it?"

"You can drink legally now you know... I wouldn't unless it was an emergency."

Understanding, Lee nodded.

"I truly have the best friends in the world." He said.

Tenten ran forward and hugged Lee, making the boy blush. This reaction surprised him, but he could not pursue it further because of an unexpected visitor.

"Rock Lee?" A talking toad asked.

"Yes that is me." He answered as Tenten released her hug.

"I have been sent by Naruto Uzumaki to retrieve you."

Lee nodded, if Naruto needed him he would be there in a heartbeat.

"Thank you all again for the gifts. I shall be back shortly." He told his friends, before following the toad out of the forest.

* * *

"WOW!"

Lee stood in shock, how this compound had remained hidden from the rest of the village, he had no clue. He was quickly briefed on his new mission, and accepted without hesitation.

Tsunade returned to the Hokage Tower, and Naruto invited Lee into his new home.

"This place is awesome Naruto! It bursts with righteous youthfulness!"

"I like it too." Naruto said modestly, in truth, he was in love with the estate. He had moved all his belongings into the main house, specifically in the master bedroom. He showed Lee around for a few hours, exploring and discovering alongside the bushy-browed youth. Then, when the sun began to set, Lee left to pack, and Naruto left to say goodbye to his friends.

He walked quickly to the hospital, and even more quickly to Sasuke's room. He knocked on the door, only to have it open into an empty room. He looked around, and the bed had been made, the curtains drawn, and the floor swept.

"Sasuke's all better now Naruto..."

Naruto turned to see Ino walking through the hallway.

"I think he took Sakura out to dinner." Ino kept on walking, but her voice was sympathetic. Naruto stood in the doorway for several long minutes. He felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness take hold of his body. He felt so hollow. He knew deep inside that Sakura still loved Sasuke... but he had hoped against hope that he was wrong. Them going out to dinner could only mean one thing. That Sasuke had finally returned Sakura's feelings. Naruto suddenly gripped the door frame, the weight of his sorrow became immeasurable. He could barely bear it. Then, something inside of him snapped, and all the sadness washed away.

He went back to his new home, and began packing.

* * *

"I'm glad we got all that settled Sakura, Naruto's a really good guy underneath all that stupidity... and it would kill me to know that I was the only thing keeping him from happiness."

"Don't worry Sasuke, I got over you along time ago." Sakura said smiling, "I told him I loved him already, but he didn't believe me... now that he knows you're back and I'm not pursuing you, I'm sure he will realize the truth."

"No Tenten, I'll only be gone for a few months." Lee's voice came from outside the resturant, Sakura and Sasuke walked outside to investigate. There was Lee, walking with a large cardboard box in his arms, Tenten followed beside him, her face shadowed in sorrow.

"Lee? Where are you off to?" Sakura asked, startling the boy.

"Oh, Sakura! How are you, my beautiful sunset?"

"Hello Lee." Sasuke said, slightly hurt by the fact his once rival had ignored him.

"Oh, hello to you as well Sasuke."

"Lee?" Sakura asked, patiently.

"Oh yes. I am going on a mission with the current toad sage to re-establish old contacts within the Konoha spy network." As Lee spoke, Tenten seemed to grow sadder and sadder. Both Sakura and Sasuke noticed this, but chose to ignore it for the time being. Instead, Sakura turned her questioning toward who Lee would be accompanying on his mission.

"By current Toad Sage, do you mean Naruto?"

"Forgive me Sakura, but I am not a leisure to discuss those things with you. My mission is top secret."

Sakura was preparing to threaten Lee for being so disagreeable, but Tenten's sadness was now too blatant to ignore.

"Is she okay?" Sakura whispered to Lee.

"Oh, my blossoming flower of a friend Tenten is just sad to see such an enthusiastic training partner depart!"

Sakura ignored Lee's ignorance and turned to Tenten.

"You want me to walk you home Tenten?" She asked kindly. Tenten smiled at her, and nodded. The two walked away, leaving Sasuke and Lee alone.

"Well, goodbye Sasuke!" Lee said, walking away. Sasuke stood by himself for a moment, leaning on his crutch.

"Okay then..." He walked back to the Uchiha estate, hoping that it was still standing.

* * *

"So what's wrong Tenten?" Sakura asked as they walked.

"Oh... Lee's leaving and all..."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. When Naruto left the first time, I was pretty sad."

"No offense Sakura, but with Lee and me it's different."

"Well what do you mean?"

Tenten thought very carefully before answering.

"I'm in love with him."

Sakura had to honestly try to hold back laughter. Surely Tenten was joking. There was no way a woman like her could fall for a guy like him.

"Are you serious Tenten?" Sakura asked carefully, "I actually thought you had a thing for Neji."

"Neji?" Tenten laughed, "I love the guy, sure. But he's way too mopey and serious for me."

Sakura thought for a moment on her own team. One of the members was mopey and serious, the other exuberant and idiotic. The more she thought, the more she realized how much the Konoha teams reflected one another. Naruto, Kiba, Lee, and Choji all had a certain level of rowdiness compared to Sasuke, Shino, Neji, and Shikamaru. Interesting how Tenten had fallen for Lee just as Sakura had ultimately given in to Naruto's affections. She wondered to herself if she could accurately predict the outcome of other relationships that way.

"Well why don't you tell him?"

"I'm just not ready! What if he doesn't like me back? I mean he still seems to have the biggest crush on you!"

"Tenten," Sakura began, "Lee and I had a talk a long time ago. He's over me, he just still calls me names like, 'beloved' and 'beautiful sunset' as a sort of inside joke I guess. We both know it would never work out."

Tenten's face brightened a little.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." Sakura placed her hands on Tenten's shoulders, "Come with me tomorrow morning, I'm going to see them off... there are a few things I need to say to Naruto, and you can tell Lee. Think about it, okay?"

Tenten nodded, putting on a brave face. Sakura hugged her and said goodbye.

Neither of them would get much sleep that night.

* * *

Lee stood in his apartment, twirling his new nunchaku with one hand, balancing his new gourd in the other, when a knock came at his door.

"Are you packed?" It was Naruto.

Lee nodded.

"Good, let's go."

"I thought we weren't leaving until tomorrow..." Lee said.

"Change of plans. C'mon."

There was something off with Naruto, Lee could tell. But the boy was his superior on the mission, so he couldn't question any choices the toad sage made. Lee grabbed his pack, put his nunchaku and his gourd inside, and followed Naruto out of his apartment.

They walked to the gates in silence.


End file.
